The public higher education system grew income faster than expenses in 2017 according to new federal government figures. Revenue was up 6.2 per cent on 2016, to $32bn, with expenses growing by 5.1 per cent to $30bn.

However, seven higher education providers had net operating deficits.

Universities in the red were Southern Cross U ($3.76m), Federation U ($4.35m), Victoria U ($29.89m) James Cook U ($7.73m), Uni Southern Queensland ($0.59m), Charles Darwin U ($14.28m). The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education also had a loss ($0.209m).

The slowing in expense growth varies the five-year trend, which saw earnings grow by 21 per cent between 2013 and 2017 with costs up by 23 per cent, driven by a $3bn increase in wages. While the report is silent on the cause this is likely due to staff growth and wage increases in previous rounds of enterprise agreements.

The system is also dependent on international student fees. Federal government payments dropped from 56 per cent of income in 2016 to 53 per cent in ’17. In contrast, international student fees increased from 20 per cent to 23 per cent, and were up from 16 per cent in 2013. The universities of Sydney and Melbourne collected $750m each from internationals in 2017.